Spring time is almost here and the water is warming up and getting into the 50’s. That means the crankbait bite is getting ready to explode! There are many different crankbaits that you need to have in your tackle box for this time of year and in the video below Austin will talk about all of the ones that we ALWAYS have for that spring time bite!

Crankbaits can be utilized to mimic multiple types of forage that bass feed on. The two most common types of bait they imitate are shad and crayfish/crawdads! Whether it be getting that wigglewart to dig down into the rocks or using a DT-6 to get that tight wobble that drive bass nuts; there are TONS of options!

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Cold water. Suspending Jerkbait. The two go hand in hand and it has been that way for years. When that water gets cold a go to for most fisherman is the suspending jerkbait. Why? Well, with cold water temperatures comes dying shad and baitfish. The jerkbait is a great imitator of a main forage for most bodies of water. SHAD. When the shad start dying then that jerkbait bite is on.

Just because you may not see dying shad in the water doesn’t mean they won’t hit a jerkbait. I LOVE the jerkbait when the water gets into the low 40’s. Seems like I have had some of my best days when the water is at or around that temperature.

Throwing the jerkbait out and just reeling it in isn’t gonna get it done. You have to have a cadence to your jerkbait that you are confident in. My buddy Trey Morey doesn’t pause his jerkbait very long but he catches a lot of fish on a jerkbait. I used to pause it for 5-10 seconds almost every time I threw one but I have kind of gone to a Twitch, Twitch, Pause for 2 seconds and then Twitch, Twitch, Pause 2 seconds again. It’s just what I have confidence in. Now obviously when you aren’t getting bites you may need to change your jerkbait color, or change your cadence up a little bit.

My go to jerkbait is the Megabass Vision 110. It seems like it outproduces every other jerkbait EVERY time I use it. Believe me, at the $25 price that they cost I don’t want them to be my go to jerkbait because they can break the bank. However, on days where I have thrown other jerkbaits and then I switch to a Megabass and start getting bites. Below is a recent video that I filmed with Tyson and we caught a couple good fish using some of these tactics.

-Paden Bennett

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Over the past couple months from late July-October I have had a lot of good days fishing. Almost all of the lakes that I’ve had success on have had one thing in common…Alligatorweed. I also call it creek grass because you frequently see it while wading or floating the creeks and streams nearby. This can be a great piece of structure for quality sized bass if you know how to utilize it. This type of weed can be quite invasive; it can grow out just a foot off the bank or it can grow way off the bank and form very thick mats that can be difficult to fish without the right bait or equipment. When dealing with alligatorweed there are a few key things to look for and how to convert those keys into bites.

Don’t be afraid to punch!

Punching through the grass and weeds has always been an effective way at pulling big fish out of these thick beds. The hardest part is getting to those fish and keeping your bait in the strike zone. One of the best baits to use when punching alligatorweed is a jig. You can go all out and go with a “punching” jig which has a triangle head, so it falls through the weeds easier or you can go with a regular flipping jig in the 1/2 oz-3/4 oz range. Jigs are extremely effective because they have the bulk and the mass to get through the weeds and deep into the weed bed where these big bass roam. Don’t be fooled, the bed may look incredibly thick to us but those bass can easily maneuver through it and ambush. I like using braided line when fishing weeds; it cuts through the grass with ease and when you hook a fish deep in a bed of alligatorweed it can be extremely tough to pull them out. These weed stems can be as big around as your thumb so you can imagine how tough it is to horse a 4+ pound bass out of that stuff. I usually use at least 50 lb braid and often times I use 65 lb braid. A longer and heavy rod is a must to accommodate the braided line you will use. I use a 7’6″ Medium Heavy action with a reel that is able to pick up line quickly. I’ve noticed over the years that when bass are tucked into weeds that sometimes they want a bait dropped right on their head almost. Often times they won’t chase after something but if you drop a jig in one of the holes in the weeds then they will hit it almost immediately. You put all those things together and you have a fighting chance at getting one of these big bass to bite and also landing one.

*50-65 lb Braid

*7+ft Medium Heavy Rod

Make short flips!

I realize that in some of the extremely clear bodies of water that making short flips may not be the way to go due to the bass being more easily spooked. In most of the water I’m talking about the visibility is 5 ft or less. There is absolutely no reason to make a long cast when fishing this type of cover. The bass are tucked in tight to the grass and aren’t going to come very far out to ambush something. Bass when in this state are not as easily spooked because of the stained water and the thick cover they are in. You are doing yourself no favors of getting the optimal presentation, or landing the fish by making long flips/casts. When I’m flipping weeds I will get right up on the weeds with my boat and flip as many holes as I can, because as I’ve said you have to put it right in front of their face. If you are able to make short flips with the equipment that I mentioned above your rate of converting these bites into fish in the boat will go up exponentially.

Hit high percentage areas!

So you come up on a big weed bed there are two things you might feel: 1) You will feel excited because of all the targets to flip. 2) You will be overwhelmed because you have no clue where to start flipping. This is normal. Relax. When I’m fishing weed beds I am looking for high percentage areas. A high percentage area could be where the weeds intersect with a laydown or tree. It could be where there is a small stream or ditch with fresh rain water coming in with a nice patch of weeds around it. It could be a channel that swings in against the weeds so that the bass have shallow water next to deep water. Another could be where there is a big hole in the weed bed and it’s a great ambush point for bass to pop out and grab bait as it comes by. There are tons of things to look for but the main thing is you have to hit those high percentage areas with an effective presentation. You may fish a whole weed bed and then find one little clump where you catch a couple big fish. Ask yourself “why were they in that spot?” A thing that I have done lately is keep a notebook of these things I have observed that way in the future I have that background knowledge already in front of me to look back on.

All in all, weeds can be a great piece of structure to help you catch more and bigger fish. Alligatorweed is just one of the many types of grass and weeds that are effective. I hope that you can take some of these tips and tricks and put them to use on the water and enjoy the art of fishing the “jungle” that I call the weed beds.

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Hey guys, our new episode Along the Rocks is one of my favorite trips and episodes that we have done. The crew we had was great and the fishing was PHENOMENAL! It’s beautiful country and a great place to spend a week and just relax and enjoy God’s creation! Check out the episode and as always hit that subscribe button on Youtube!

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Now is the time to get out and find those fish moving up shallow to warmer water! Water was 52-54 degrees with cloudy and windy conditions! That didn’t stop those fish from moving up on to the flats in shallower water looking to feed! What an awesome day to be out fishing!

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Check out Part II of our trip to the mountains last July! In this episode you will see us fish the Miracle Mile, Willow Creek and the Beaverhead River! There are tons of different places to fish and in this episode you will see a few of those! Willow Creek was a blast catching small Brook Trout and the Miracle Mile and Beaverhead are great for Rainbow and Brown Trout!

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As winter approaches, anglers often put the boat cover on and put all their tackle and rods away for storage. Not so fast! A common misconception among fisherman is that winter is not a good time for fishing. That is just not true. Now, the bite can be slower on some days and you do have to fish using a slower presentation but there are still fish to be had and BIG ones. Winter is one of the best times to catch a giant bass. In this post, I will talk about a few of the baits I prefer in the winter as well as what types of lakes and structure to look for to help you have a successful season of winter bass fishing!

When choosing a lake in the winter it is important to understand what the fish are doing in these cold water conditions. Dirty or stained water cools down very quick and fish are not a fan. Shallow water cools down quicker than the deeper water does. So when choosing a lake in the winter I am often looking for a predominately clear water lake that has good depth. Some of the best lakes in the winter offer clear water with deep ledges, channel swings, bluff walls, chunk rock, and other pieces of cover like that. Avoid the dirty and stained lakes in the winter and fish the lakes that have more depth in clarity.

Another kind of lake to look for is power plant lakes. Power plant lakes are bodies of water located near a power plant and the plant uses the water to help cool equipment and other things. The benefit for the fisherman is because of this the water going back into the lake from the power plants is warm! Very warm. I know of multiple lakes where the water will be 75 degrees in December when it’s snowing around the discharge. Catching fish on a buzzbait in the winter is an awesome sight I promise! Keep an eye out for these in your neck of the woods!

The main key of winter fishing is SLOW DOWN! The Bass are not wanting to move or feed so be patient and work your bait slow. If you aren’t getting any bites then fish slower.

*When in doubt of bass fishing in the winter, just go trout fishing.

3 Lures I Always Have in the Winter

Suspending Jerkbait: The suspending jerkbait/stickbait is a staple when it comes to winter fishing. The bait imitates a dying shad and can be worked very slowly so lethargic bass have ample time to react.

Jig: A finesse jig or a football jig can both be used to lure lethargic bass into feeding. Let’s face it, in the winter bass do not want to move much and the jig can be worked at sloth-like speeds.

Ned Rig: The Ned Rig is one of the most simple baits you will see and that is why it works in the winter time and all year long. When fish don’t want to bite, the last thing you want to do is throw something complicated. Keep it simple. This finesse rig can be worked slow on the bottom and imitates a crawfish.

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Have you decided to buy a tent and do some camping, maybe save some money on accommodation costs on your fishing trips? Here are a few things to consider.

If you go to the local sporting goods store or discount retailer, tent options abound. Remember size is important. Fortunately tent manufacturers have made the size issue easier than it used to be. Now it states in writing how many persons the tent was designed to sleep right on the outside of the tent box or bag. You can purchase a tent, take it camping and find out these numbers are total garbage. Tent manufacturers must test their products for size by sending grade school kids on a backyard camping trip. There are two problems this creates. The first is that grade school kids are not very big! Second, grade schoolers on a backyard camping adventure remain active until they absolutely can no longer keep their eyes open. Then they fall asleep in whatever position they happen to be in. The result is a large sleeping pile, somewhat like sheep on a cold night. So unless you’re as friendly with your camping companions as grade schoolers at a sleepover, take the sleeping capacity on the tent and cut it in half. That will give you a fair result.

Once you get your tent out of the bag it came in set the bag aside. You might need it to put hiking boots in for your next trip or store extra fire starting supplies, but you will never get your tent back in it. Once a tent is unpacked for the first time it gains more than 25% in volume. It cannot be rolled back into the bag.

Packaging engineers (yes there is such a profession) take great pride designing packaging for tents. In fact, I think it must be the final barrier to becoming a fully fledged packaging engineer. You design a bag that a tent can be packed into only once. After the engineers are certified they sit around drinking coffee, bragging about their designs, laughing sadistically at the thought of the end user actually trying to return their tent to the original bag.

There are a wide range of tent designs. Of course camping veterans are well aware that the pinnacle of tent designed was achieved more than a generation ago with the advent of the dome. Nothing has really been produced since with as much functionality, but that doesn’t keep the tent manufacturers from coming out with new designs every year. However, most are just variations of the dome.

As I child I spent much of my camping trips sleeping in one such tent, the pop up from King Seeley Thermos. It could easily be set up in less than five minutes. It slept two people and kept rain out. Of course, manufacturing of it ceased long ago. Most campers find it much more appealing to wrestle with a tent, rather than set up quickly and move on to other important camp activities, like eating s’mores.

After buying a tent you should set it up in the yard before actually taking it on a camping trip. This will allow you to learn the idiosyncrasies of your own tent, and make sure everything is in working order before taking it to a campsite. No one ever does this. The only one who would have time for such activity would have to be retired. In that case, they don’t need a tent, they already live in an RV and spend their days travelling from “campground” to “campground” with their spouse and an annoying little dog. The only reason they own a tent is to keep the grandkids out of the RV when they insist on traveling with them. Grandkids are easily duped into thinking that it is much more fun to sleep outside the RV, in a tent on the hard ground, with the bears and such.

No, the proper time to set up a tent for the first time is after dark in a crowded campground with rain threatening, while being bitten by a horde of mosquitoes. Your wife should be positioned close by, dutifully holding a lantern and making suggestions as to what parts are what and how the process could be speeded up if you would do it right.

You need to make sure to pound the stakes in hard, so as to make as much noise as possible. This is especially true if you are using metal stakes. No trip to a campground is complete without the sound of someone nearby frantically pounding stakes under the threat of pending darkness, rain or both. An alternative to this is to just yell loudly, “I am a self centered imbecile who should have been here an hour ago to set up my tent when it would have been less disturbing.” Thereby confirming what everyone in the campground has already said. It will accomplish the same purpose as stake driving in the minds of your neighbors, but it will do little keep your tent up.

When you get done you can start to sit back to take in your work and realize you still have to assemble the rain fly. These used to be basically an extra layer of tent material strung over the top of the tent, but that was much too simple. Designers figured out they could cause much additional consternation by building rain flies that had to have rods inserted. Not that it made much difference in keeping out rain, but again modern tents are not supposed to be simple. So you assemble the rain fly and stretch it over the tent, but wait – something is askew. The rain fly doesn’t quite fit right. It’s because you borrowed a tent from a buddy. Not a bad idea before investing in your own tent, but you conclude that the rain fly you borrowed is not the rain fly to tent you borrowed. Another reason to set up even a borrowed tent in advance, but again no one would ever do that. Once the rain fly is on you get to drive in some more stakes to hold it in place.

There you are, tent assembled. Rain will stay out, but not moisture from the ground. See you should have put down a ground cover before assembling the tent. Of course no one would know this unless they were told by a veteran camper or maybe read the instructions. However, no ground cover comes with the tent. Tent makers long ago knew to try to keep water out of the top of the tent, but often paid no attention to water from the bottom of the tent. So make a note before you leave on your next trip to go buy the discount store and buy $10 tarp to go under the tent. Of course you could just buy a $10 tarp in the first place and forgo the tent, with similar results.

There you have it, about everything you need to know to start tent camping. Take-heart, you will soon be spending the night in your assembled tent, wide awake in your soggy sleeping bag wondering how much one of those RV’s costs.

-Honest Ernie

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It was a cast initially much like any other. The evening’s action had been a little slow. With no bites I had descended into the pleasurable monotony of casting and reeling that most lure anglers know. It was a pleasant evening and I was just happy to be in Central Wyoming and fishing for trout. It may have been the 50th cast or it may have been the 100th cast of the night, I don’t know, but on this cast it suddenly all changed.

I threw my Rapala CD 9 across the North Platte River and then began the familiar jerking and reeling motion that gives jerk baits their common name. As I have found is often the case, the strike came as the lure was finishing its downstream sweep. There was nothing really exceptional about the strike in voracity, but I knew the instant the line tightened without a doubt I was attached to something much bigger than normal. The fish came to the surface, but did not emerge, only swirled and I caught a quick glimpse of what I actually thought was the side of large rainbow trout in the fading light. He made a run for downstream and I began to follow, clamoring over the boulder lined bank as best I could. Then, I came to my senses and realized the fish was headed for a downstream riffle, and if he made it there, the battle would be over before it began. I put what pressure I could on the fish and decided I would move no farther.

It was my second day of fishing what is known among anglers as “The Miracle Mile”. A section of the North Platte River that flows between Seminoe and Pathfinder Reservoirs, and produces some of the best trout action in the country. That’s A Good Fish (TAGF) crew members Lester Whiteside, Roy Fixins, and Gus Gilleywaters, and John were all on the July trip.

The previous evening in a stretch of the river just upstream from where I was, Lester Whiteside hooked a very large fish that pursued the same tactic. It was successful at making to the fast water, freeing itself, leaving its identity and size only to speculation. So I decided I was standing my ground. I would either land the fish here or not land it at all.

The fish turned upstream and then sounded, a motion typical of a brown trout in battle, and this led me to believe that maybe that is what I had hooked. I realized that this was, as John says, “one grizzled old veteran versus another grizzled old veteran.” And the battle was going to go on awhile. Somewhere along the line of my fishing career I have developed the habit of looking down at my watch when I find something much more than average on my line. This time I glanced down and it read 8:20 Mountain Time.

During next few minutes the nature of the battle began to settle. The fish would make a deep run, I would apply as much pressure as I could, then he would turn, but plunge into the deep current. I began to have time to contemplate, more so than reacting. I now knew I was attached to an exceptional fish, if it was a big trout; I loathed the idea of keeping it. Yet, I was alone. I had no way of proving to other members of the TAGF crew that I caught it, if I was fortunate enough to win the battle.

I was hoping to avoid a repeat of what has become known among the group as the Encampment River fiasco of 2010. John, fishing alone was forced to keep a very large brown trout as proof to the rest of the crew that fish of that size existed in the river. Group dynamics being what they are, we were all obligated to participate in the consumption of the fish in camp that evening. For anglers accustomed to crappie fillets it was an arduous task. Even today it is a frequent camp fire topic, spoken of as one of the great moments of suffering in the group experience.

As the fish sounded again I looked down the canyon and could barely make out the figure of John fishing the lower side of the rapids I was trying to avoid. He had to be a few hundred yards down the canyon. Gus, Lester, and Roy were up the river from me, but around a rock formation and out of sight. I decided to at least give it a try and began yelling John’s name. There was no response. So I started yelling “help”. Hoping someone would hear and could be sent after the others.

It turned out, I needn’t have worried, at this point it was much earlier in the fight than I could have imagined. Once again the fish made a run and plunged deep. At times it just sat on the bottom. All I could do was hold on and hope he wore down.

Shortly, I could see that John had started to move up the canyon toward me. Not an easy feat on the bank covered with rocks the size of vehicles. In fact, those rocks were the reason I was where I was. I had much success the previous evening and morning on this stretch of the river, both upstream and downstream from where I stood. A few hours of clamoring over these rocks had left me sore and not a little hesitant and concerned for my own safety. So I was fishing on this evening where a road approached close to the river. Easy access for an aging fisherman.

The previous day my son Gus and I finished a successful evening a little earlier than the rest of the group, and were leisurely enjoying the evening waiting alongside the road. A random fly fisherman from Colorado pulled up in an SUV to discuss the evening feed. He had been having some success on dry flies he said. We said our pleasantries and he moved on. Now as I battled this fish I looked over my shoulder and the Colorado Fly Fisherman was stopped on the road above me, watching out of his vehicle.

The battle continued. John made his was to me, taking an unfortunate fall on the way and cutting a finger. I felt a little bad about that later. “What do you have?” he said as he arrived. I now had an audience of two.

“I’m not sure, but it is big, I have already been fighting since 8:20.”

The fish chose this instant to make another attempt to get downstream and in doing so came as close to the bank as he had for any of the battle. For a moment he was closer to John than to me. He approached the surface for a second time, swirled in the water, giving us a quick glimpse of his side. The light was really fading now, but I still could have sworn I saw the side of a rainbow.

I explained to John my strategy of not moving farther downstream and the fish headed deep again. In a fight like this the time passes so quickly, but yet there all kinds of thoughts; I’m glad I switched to 8 pound line rather than the 6 I normally use in this situation (8 pound test PLine floroclear, in case you are wondering. PLine floroclear is my go to line.) Is this really a big trout, or is it something else? Will I spend all this time fighting it to find out yes it is big, but not really that big just strong? Maybe I have it foul hooked? When do I begin to put enough pressure on the fish to actually try to land it?

In a few minutes the fish actually came up again, but all John and I could see was a dark shadow. We both agreed that it looked like the silhouette of a big trout!

The battle continued. I would gain a little ground and then lose it all on the next run. Darkness continued to descend on the canyon, and three figures emerged from the rocks upstream, Gus, Roy, and Lester. They soon were aware that I was in the middle of playing something larger than usual.

One of the first questions was, “Why don’t you follow it downstream?”

My quick reply was, “No I have made my decision. I am standing my ground right here,” Explaining that if he took me into the fast water, there would be no return. From that moment on this became the “Stand Your Ground” fish.

The battle continued. For a while neither veteran could gain much ground. I would get a few yards of line on the spool. The fish would soon gain it back. I began to control the line on my Pflueger President, not by the drag, but by manually controlling the spool with a finger of my rod hand. The big fish continued his pattern of coming up, and then going deep. John commented that he wasn’t sure the fish even knew he was hooked.

More thoughts in my mind; How well was the fish hooked? Maybe it wasn’t really all that big of a fish, and my partners would be disappointed. Behind me the audience continued the discussion about what the fish was. For awhile there was serious speculation from Roy and Lester that perhaps it was a carp. John and I both disputed this, with the description of the glimpses we had seen.

While the big fish sounded again and I just hung on, I glanced behind me and the TAGF crew had lined up on the rocks, seating themselves in a row like bleacher fans at a ballpark, but there was an extra crew member…..Random Colorado Fly fisherman had parked his SUV and made his way down from the road to join them. The comments and speculation of the fish’s identity continued, plans for actually landing the fish were developed. The battle continued, and the excitement among the crew grew intense.

It was almost dark now. One of the crew members had brought a light down from the vehicle and was shining it on the water, trying to see the fish. At moments, I wasn’t sure where the fish or my line was. This was concerning me.

Finally, I felt the fish had started to tire and it was time to put on more pressure. I pumped the rod, only reeling in line on the down swing. I was surprised when I began making progress. The crew beamed the light on the water. After such a long battle, what happened next seemed to happen in an instant.

The fish was there, it didn’t seem like he gradually came into view, I had just gained enough line that it was there, up in the water and close to the bank. The light was pointed right at it. Up to this point I had maintained my emotions and control of my thoughts, plotting the battle like a grizzled veteran should. Now I lost it. Lester said, “It’s a huge brown!!”

And it was …….. A huge male brown with a hooked lower jaw. It wasn’t just the biggest brown trout I had ever caught; it was the biggest I had ever seen alive. This was not a stream fish, no long and skinny about him, he was fat the length of his body, bordering on obese. I began to shake uncontrollably, but in short order knew to get control of myself.

My mind was rather jumbled, but here is what I remember about what happened next. Random Colorado Fly Fisherman suggested I back up the bank, which I did. In one motion Lester grabbed the behemoth trout and put it several feet up the bank on a rock. I involuntarily collapsed right there and let out a “whoop!!” There was a great amount of excitement among the crew. I truly felt like “we” had caught this fish, not just me. Someone said its 9:15. The fight was over after over 55 minutes.

The fish had the Rapala sideways in its mouth, and was hooked very solidly hooked. Lester jumped in with pliers to help, but managed to get both himself both hooked and fortunately unhooked. Later I felt bad about that, but at the time things were happening so fast I didn’t realize. John moved in for help and managed to free the Rapala. Gus jumped in with a tape measure and records were taken, 29-inches, over 16 pounds, incredible!! I hoisted the fish quickly for photos. When I looked up to smile, TAGF crew members weren’t the only ones taking my photos. Random Colorado fly fisherman was taking photos too.

And then it was time for the fish and I to part ways. I wanted to release him as soon as possible. I knelt and slid him into the water, trying to gently hold on while he gained his equilibrium, but he was still strong. He swam from my hands immediately and headed downstream toward a place he could recover. I hope he survived the fight as well as I did. I hope he is still out there.

We were left with photos and a story. It was another pleasant night in Wyoming. There were smiles all around and celebration among the crew. Random Colorado Fly Fisherman faded into the night. We returned to camp and just sat and discussed the fish for a long time. The discussion continued much of the rest of the trip. Roy named the fish Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.

What does all this mean, maybe not much really. I never had considered myself one to catch big trout. Now I could no longer say that. Did I do much right to catch this fish? Maybe, I think this was a huge brown that had swum up from Pathfinder reservoir. He woke up for the night and thought he saw supper in the form of small rainbow trout and attacked. I was using the rainbow color because earlier in the day John had suggested it. I kept the fish out of the fastest water because of what Lester had told me. I used 8 pound test line, because of the stories of big fish Gus had related to me on a previous trip to the Miracle Mile. In reality, it could have been any of the TAGF crew that caught the fish. I was just in the right place, mainly because I was sore and tired from climbing over the rocks.

The best thing about the experience was that all the others of the group were there to experience it with me. The five of us have been making similar trips west since the summer of 2005. I hope sometime on a future trip we all experience a monster trout again and another crew member gets to catch it. In the meantime, I remain humble about the whole experience, only mentioning the huge brown trout when necessary. It seems to be necessary a lot!

-Honest Ernie

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Spawning season is one of the best times of the year to catch bass. They are up shallow and ready to feed. In this clip, Lester and Chad talk about some tips and tricks that can help you catch more fish during this spawning season! Enjoy!